Alonso Salinas, a 24-year-old racing driver from Mexico, will make his ARCA Menards West Series debut in the No. 77 Performance P-1 Motorsports Toyota at Kevin Harvick Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California, on February 28. With Kevin Harvick Kern Raceway set to host the 2026 season opener, Salinas has his sights on a full campaign and the Rookie of the Year award, provided funding allows.
Salinas’ Path to the ARCA Menards West Series
The journey leading Salinas to ARCA began at an early age. An early love for motorsport drove him to compete as a pre-teen.
“I started competing at 12 years old and grew up watching all kinds of motorsports like Motocross and Supercross, F1, MotoGP, NASCAR and IndyCar,”
Salinas said.
Salinas has already distinguished himself in racing, winning the Rotax Max Challenge Senior championship in both 2017 and 2020. He shifted from karting to stock car racing in 2021 by joining the NASCAR Trucks Mexico Series, where he quickly became a standout, capturing the series championship in 2024. Across 48 starts, he scored four wins, finished in the top five 22 times, and earned 35 top-ten results.
Continuing his ascent, Salinas competed in the NASCAR Mexico Challenge, a class within the NASCAR Mexico Series, during the 2025 season. Racing for Alpha Racing, he reached the playoff final, registering four top-five and 13 top-ten finishes in just 14 races—a strong showing in his rookie season at this higher level.
Motivation and Racing Influences
Alonso Salinas has looked to several leading NASACAR drivers for inspiration, particularly those making a mark for Mexican talent.
“Well my favorite drivers are obviously Daniel Suarez because all the impact that he had made on stock car racing in Mexico,”
Salinas said.
“The other ones are Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.”
Adapting to a New Track and Team
The ARCA Menards West Series will offer new challenges at Kevin Harvick Kern Raceway. Salinas is focused on quickly adapting to both the car and team as he enters this competitive US series.
“Getting to know the car and the team. Also, the race regulations are different from those in Mexico, so finding my pace as quickly as possible,”
Salinas said.
Team Support and Strong Connections
Performance P-1 Motorsports owner Joe Nava has followed Salinas’s progress over several seasons, watching his potential develop.
“I was introduced to him by Jose Luis Ramirez, for whom he was racing trucks for in Puebla, Mexico,”
said Nava.
“I watched him come through the field to the front, catch the leader and on the last lap get past him get turned and win the race going backwards across the line. Pretty darn exciting. My goal is for him to run the season with us.”
The No. 77 Toyota driven by Salinas will be supported by sponsorship from King Taco, REX MD, and Wallace Signs, with further sponsors set to be announced. Experienced crew chief Roger Bracken will oversee racing operations. PP1M, led by Nava, has a history of fostering Mexican drivers in the West Series, as seen when Jose Luis Ramirez and Jorge Goeters scored four top-10s together some two decades ago.
Performance P-1 Motorsports has fielded entries in 214 West Series races, compiling five wins, 26 top-fives, 82 top-tens, and one pole since 1998.
Season Outlook for Salinas and the Series
Salinas will compete at the half-mile paved oval at Kern Raceway during the Oil Workers 150, presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame, streamed live on FloRacing. The 2026 ARCA Menards West Series championship schedule includes 13 rounds at venues like Phoenix Raceway and Sonoma Raceway, running from February through October.
If Salinas can secure a full-season campaign, his combination of proven results in Mexico and support from seasoned figures such as Nava and Bracken may help him become a notable contender in the championship battle and shine a spotlight on rising Mexican drivers in American stock car racing.
